Episode 195: Hardcore Holiday: A Shaun Costello Christmas
Show Notes : Put the kids to sleep before Santa arrives, because this week's episode is adults only! We discuss the work of infamous pornographer Shaun Costello, the man behind the 'One Day Wonder', and his infamous features WATER POWER, the nauseating FORCED ENTRY, and his holly jolly take on A Christmas Carol, THE PASSIONS OF CAROL. Films Discussed * Directed by Shaun Costello ** Forced Entry (1971) ** The Passions of Carol (1975) ** Water Power (1976) ** Afternoon Delights (1980) ** Beauty (1981) ** Writing for Time (1990) * The Lady from Shanghai (1947) Dir. Orson Welles * Deep Throat (1972) Dir. Gerard Damiano * Fleshpot on 42nd Street (1973) Dir. Andy Milligan * Taxi Driver (1976) Dir. Martin Scorsese Discussion Notes * Justin - I killed Santa with a shotgun, and now I am him * The ICC's history of the shows analysis of porn directors * Shaun Costello ** Will - Shaun Costello is the most abject director the show has tackled, "as porny as you can get" ** A Vietnam vet and advertising company worker, a self-proclaimed sex addict who haunted the balconies of the 42nd Street porn theaters ** Almost everything he made was financed by the the New Jersey mob ** Moved into higher budget work with 'the Walt Disney of porn' later in his career ** Porn career ended in the 80s, resurfaced later with some documentary, book and blog work * The Passions of Carol ** Adaptation of A Christmas Carol ** Costello's big film outing following 32 'one-day wonder' shoots - his first film with a script! ** Will - "Jamie Gillis is the Olivier of porn" ** Costello believes the film failed because the film wasn't sexy enough *** Ended up being released in March due to a missed deadline * Forced Entry ** Supposedly one of the first filmed to deal with the stories of shell-shocked Vietnam war veterans ** Invites you to enter a world where everything we consider to be evil is pleasurable, and that morality is not objective but subscribed to *** A terrifying thought that intrigues Will * Water Power ** Star Distributors wanted to capitalize on the notoriety of the Enema Bandit ** Pays homage to Taxi Driver in its own problematic way ** Will on the quality of subtitled Greek VHS copy - "something like this really ought to look like you found it in a dumpster" ** Justin on watching graphically-detailed enemas on-screen - "not that bad!" Listener Letters * No letters this week Post-Outro Discussion *Our hosts holiday season movie excitement - *crickets* *When was the last time you watched Schindler's List? *The 'Oscar movie' release season has adapted to avoid the annual Disney December release **Always one sacrificial counter-program - this year it's Cats *Have we seen the end of the big December award push? *2019 award season releases **''A Hidden Life'' (2019) Dir. Terence Malick **''The Twentieth Century'' (2019) Dir. Matthew Ranking **''Won't You Be My Neighbor?'' (2019) Dir. Morgan Neville **''Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker'' (2019) Dir. J. J. Abrams **''Cats'' (2019) Dir. Tom Hooper **''Little Women'' (2019) Dir. Greta Gerwig * Other films discussed **''Million Dollar Baby'' (2004) Dir. Clint Eastwood **''Schindler's List'' (1993) Dir. Steven Spielberg **''Solo'' (2018) Dir. Ron Howard **''Star Wars: The Last Jedi'' (2017) Dir. Rian Johnson **''Lady Bird'' (2017) Dir. Greta Gerwig Category:Episodes Category:Shaun Costello Category:Christmas